Download Democratic Republic of Congo (= former Zaire, “Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo (= former Zaire, “CongoKinshasa”)
Last updated: 30-01-2004
Location and area
The Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa is bordered on the north by the
Central African Republic and Sudan, on the east by Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Lake
Tanganyika (which separates it from Tanzania), on the south by Zambia, on the southwest by
Angola, and on the northwest by the Republic of the Congo. The Democratic Republic of the
Congo has a 40-km coastline to the west, on the Atlantic Ocean, which separates Angola’s
Cabinda province (an enclave lying within the Democratic Republic of the Congo) from the
rest of that country.
The maximum width of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is about 1,900 km; its greatest
length from north to south is about 2,000 km. Its total area is 2,344,885 km2. (Microsoft
Encarta Encyclopedia 2002).
Topography
The dominant physiographical feature of the country (occupying 60 % of its area) is the basin
of the River Congo, a vast depression that slopes upward on all sides into plateaux and
mountain ranges. The highest mountain group, running along the eastern border with
Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda, is the Mitumba Range, with elevations above 4,800 m
(16,000 ft).
The River Ubangi, chief northern tributary of the Congo, rises on the northwestern slopes of
this range. In the southeast the mountainous Katanga Plateau (about 1,200 m a.s.l.) fringes the
basin.
The sources of the Kasai, the chief southern tributary of the Congo, are found in the mountain
chains of the Angola Plateau in the southwest of the country. Numerous rivers traverse both
the Congo basin and the mountain regions.
Virtually impenetrable equatorial forests occupy the eastern and northeastern portions of the
country. The country’s rainforests constitute nearly 50 % of Africa’s remaining woodlands.
The largest, known variously as the Ituri, Great Congo, Pygmy, and Stanley Forest, extends
east from the confluence of the Aruwimi and Congo rivers nearly to Lake Albert, covering
some 65,000 km2. In this area, on the Ugandan border, is the Ruwenzori Range. The more
elevated regions around the edge of the Congo basin consist of savannah land. (Microsoft
Encarta Encyclopedia 2002).
Climate
Except in the upland regions, the climate of the country is equatorial, being extremely hot and
humid, with rain throughout the year. The mean annual temperature is about 27° C in the low
central area, with extremes considerably higher in February-April, the hottest months. In areas
with altitudes above 1,500 m, the mean annual temperature is about 19° C. The average
annual rainfall is about 1,500 mm in the north and 1,250 mm in the south. Outside the
equatorial areas of year-round rains, there are rainy seasons from April to November north of
the equator and from October through May south of the equator. The highest summits of the
mountains have considerable snowfall; at slightly lower elevations the climate is temperate
alpine. (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2002).
Land use
Large areas of the Congo basin are fertile, but only about 3 per cent of the total land area is
under cultivation (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2002).
Wetlands
Without further reference or description, Lappalainen & Żurek (1996c) give a wetland area of
400 km² (cf. the “mire” area of Shrier 1985).
Peatlands
Schneider (1958) describes a peatland at Lake Kivu with a peat thickness of up to 30 m (is
this the same as where Markow et al are referring to in Congo Brazzaville?), of which profiles
were investigated in the Torfforschungsinstitut of Bad Zwischenahn (Germany)
Kivinen & Pakarinen (1981) mention the presence of peatland in the present DR Congo
(“Zaire”) but present no estimates for its area.
Bord na Mona (1985) mentions the occurrence of peat deposits in mountainous areas of
Bukavu in eastern DR Congo, immediately west of Lake Kivu in an extension of the Virunga
volcanic range which stretches into the Kigezi District of Uganda. Individual peatlands are
small (0,5 – 10 km2), with peat depths varying from 1 m to over 15 m in the volcanic craters
at between 1600 m and 2200 m altitude.
Shrier (1985), referring to the FAO/UNESCO 1971-1981 Soil Map of the World 1:5,000,000
(=histosols), mention a “mire” area of 400 km2. Peat deposits are found in the Bukavu region,
west of Lake Kivu. The deposits occupy valleys and volcanic craters with individual areas
ranging from 50 to 1000 ha and peat depths from 1m to over 15m. Extensive lowland deposits
are estimated to occupy up to 400 km2 in the swamp complex at the southern edge of Lake
Mweru on the Zaire/Zambia border.
(=> has to be more than 400)
Markov et al. (1988) refers to the swamps in the floodplain of the Zaire river and mention that
some peatlands exist in the delta of Lulaba river and at the Upemba lake, also in the Katanga
province, and in the mangroves at the Congo river (cf. Dudal 1980). In the latter the peatlands
have peat layers up to 60 cm thick. Markov et al. (1988) estimate the area of „peat resources“
(peat thickness not mentioned) in Zaire as being 10,000 km2.
Andriesse (1988) estimates the extent of organic soils in Zaire to be 14,000 km2. Schneider &
Pfadenhauer (1980) mentions the presence of Phoenix reticulata swamps in Zaire with a 5060 cm thick peat-like substrate.
Schneider (1990) and Pfadenhauer et al. (1993) mention a peatland area for Zaire of 400 km2
(probably on the base of Bouillenne et al. 1955).
Pfadenhauer (1980) mentions peatlands on the Ruwenzori with up to 6 m thick peats.
Table 1 gives an overview of further potential peatland areas in DR Congo
Table 1: Potential peatland areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (after Thompson 1985,
Howard-Wiliams & Thompson 1985). W = extent during wet season, D = extent during dry
season (= permanent)
Area
Upemba
countries
DR Congo
Wetland type
Swamps
Kamulondo
depression
Tumba
Chesi
Maji Ndombe
Kifukula
depression
Mweru (Luapula
River)
Middle Congo
swamps
Malebo Pool
Ruzizi River
DR Congo
DR Congo
DR Congo
DR Congo
DR Congo, Zambia
Shallow lakes, swamps and
floodplain
Shallow lake
Shallow lake
Shallow lake
Swamps, floodplain
Zambia, DR Congo
Shallow lake (Mweru)
Semliki delta
DR Congo, Congo
Riverine swamps and
floodplains
DR Congo, Congo
Shallow riverine lake
Burundi, Rwanda, DR Floodplain and swamps
Congo
Uganda, DR Congo
Floodplain, delta
Extent (in km2)
8,500 (W),
4,500 (D)
11,800 (W)
7,040 (D)
767
41
2,294
1,502
4,580
40,550
ca. 300
?
?
According to the interpreted World Soil Map (Van Engelen & Huting 2002) 11,531 km2 of
histosols exist in the DR of Congo and 380,328 km2 of gley soils.
Still to be checked:
BOUILLENNE, R., MOUREAU, J. et DEUSE, P., 1955. Esquisse écologiques des faciès
forestiers et marécageux des bords du Lac Tumba. Ac. Roy. Sc. Col, cl. Sc. nat. méd., mém.
in - 80, nouv. série III, 1.
DEUSE, P., 1960. Etude écologique et phytosociologique de la végétation des Esobe de la
région est du Lac Tumba (Congo-Belge) Académie royale des Sciences d'Outre-Mer. Tome
XI, fasc.3.
Elenga, H. (1992) Végétation et climat du Zaire depuis 24,000 BP. Analyse palynologique de
séquences sédimentaires du Pays Bateke et du littoral. Th. Univ. Aix-Marsaille, 238p
MOSCOL-OLIVERA, M.C. et ROCHE, E. 1997. Analyse palynologique d'une séquence
sédimentaire holocène à Musisi-Karashoma (Kivu, R.D. Congo). Influences climatiques et
anthropiques sur l'environnement. Geo-Eco-Trop, 21(1-4), pp. 1-26.
Runge, F. & Runge, J. (1998) Phytolithanalytische und klimageschichtliche Untersuchungen
im Musisi-Karashoma-Sumpf, Kahuzi-Bièga-Nationalpark, Ost-Kongo. Paderborner Geogr.
Schr. 11: 79-104
Smuts, W. J. & Akiaoué E. 1999. Characterization of the peats of the South-Central part of
the Congo. Africa Geoscience Review 6: 65-70.
VAN OYE, P., 1959. Quelques Desmidées dites arctiques alpines des marais du Sud-Ouest
d'Uvira (Congo belge). Hydrobiologia, 12 (4): 251-267.
Vincens, A., Schwartz, D., Bertaux, J., Elenga, H. & de Namur, Ch. (1998) Late Holocene
climatic changes in western equatorial Africa inferred from pollen from Lake Sinnda,
southern Congo. Quaternary Research 50: 30-45